StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm multiplayer detailed

New details about StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm's multiplayer and races were recently revealed at BlizzCon 2011.

StarCraft 2 developers Dustin Browder, David Kim, and Josh Menke were discussing all things Heart of the Swarm at BlizzCon 2011, disclosing some new details about the current state of the series' next installment, with a particular focus on mulitplayer. Though still very much a work-in-progress, the team explained that by continuing to add or remove units, they can "effectively address race weaknesses, spice up certain stale matchups such as ZvZ or PvP, and address missed opportunities in existing units ."

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According to the official blog post about the panel discussion, nothing is final, and everything is subject to change. That said, game designer David Kim gave a detailed breakdown of all three of the game's races, detailing what's new in Heart of the Swarm's multiplayer.

A couple of changes were also noted during the presentation that were not mentioned in the lists below. Terran Reaper units have lost their building attack, but regenerate health more quickly when out of combat, and Battlecruisers are getting a "cooldown-based" speed boost ability.

The Zerg's Corruptor units now have an ability called "siphon" which damages enemy structures while providing minerals to the player, hydralisks are getting a speed upgrade, and a late-game upgrade will allow banelings to travel underground.

As far as the Protoss are concerned, two new abilities have been added. One of these is a "mass recall" that lets players quickly regroup their forces at home base, and the other is a defensive ability that temporarily adds a shield and building armor, as well as "a weapon similar to a photon cannon."

The current list of race-based features for Heart of the Swarm is as follows:

Terrans

Issues and weaknesses

Thor is too slow and clumsy

Race has difficulties in handling mass zealots in late game

New units and abilities

New "battle mode" for hellion - transforms like a viking

Battle mode hellion has more hit points, moves more slowly

Shorter, wider arc on flame attack, and stronger

Gives terran a beefy front-line fighter in the late game

Warhound

Smaller, more nimble version of Thor

Effective anti-mech ground weapon to help break siege tank lines

Anti-air attack with splash damage

Shredder

Robot that emits channeled, area of effect damage when immobilized

Damage automatically shuts off when an ally moves into range

Gives terran cheap zone control, but can't be used near main army

Is still very work-in-progress

Thor

Moved to late game, more hit points and damage

Can only have one, like mothership from Wings of Liberty

Zerg

Issues and weaknesses

Mid-game difficulties with siege and controlling areas

Missed opportunities with certain units like ultralisk and corruptor

New units and abilities

Ultralisk

Existing version is bulky and has difficulties engaging in battle

New burrow charge ability lets it dive underground and get into the fight easily

Viper

New caster unit with detection -- replaces overseer

Has abilities like blinding cloud to help break entrenched positions

Abduct ability allows it to pull units to itself -- pull siege tanks or colossus out of death balls

Swarm host

Zerg artillery for map control and siege

Burrows into the ground, and continuously generates small creatures to attack